November Rain
by Professor Zodiac
Summary: Harry's at a new Yule Ball without a date. He walks out of the Great Hall for a moment, and who does he find? What does he say to them? One-shot, uber-fluffy story. Please read and review.


Disclaimer: Why do we need disclaimers? If someone's stupid enough to think that Harry Potter is ours, they shouldn't be reading fanfiction!  
  
"November Rain" copyright Guns N' Roses   
  
Harry walked out of the Great Hall, rolling his eyes and muttering to himself as he passed Ron dancing with Parvati. He remembered that one short year ago, it was himself in that position. He smiled, wondering how awkward Ron felt. Squeezing through the seemingly endless crowd of people at the Ball, Harry said, "excuse me" more times than he could count. When he finally reached the door, Harry was surprised at what he saw.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
Hermione flinched. She obviously didn't expect to be visited out on the Grand Staircase. "What do you want?" she muttered Harry, who heard the quiver in her voice. Apparently she had been crying.  
  
Harry was taken aback. Hermione hadn't acted this way since the last Yule Ball, when Ron was so upset with her for going with Viktor Krum. "What happened? Are you alright?"  
  
Hermione turned her head away. This question must have been difficult, Harry thought. "It's just..."  
  
"What?" Harry tried to make Hermione continue.  
  
"You remember how I went with Krum last year?" Harry noticed how quickly and forcefully she said this, as if she was trying to get it out before she could think twice. "It just, well, hurts seeing all these people having fun, and me on the outside looking in. Last year... it was just so different."  
  
"You don't have a date?" Harry knew this, but wanted to get Hermione to keep talking.  
  
As the tears began to flow again, Hermione choked out a negative response. Harry felt awkward standing there, watching one of his best friends cry. He had to somehow comfort her.  
  
"Hermione, don't feel bad. I don't have a date either." Harry sat down next to her, took her chin, and raised it so she looked him in the eye. "You know I'd never let you cry like this." Hermione just gazed into his eyes, trying to choke back the sobs.   
  
When I look into your eyes I can see a love restrained But darlin' when I hold you Don't you know I feel the same?   
  
Cause nothing lasts forever And we both know hearts can change And it's hard to hold a candle In the cold November rain   
  
We've been through this such a long, long time Just trying to kill the pain.   
  
Hermione rested her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry was startled by this, but managed to fight back the urge to flinch. He placed his hand gently on her back, and let her cry on his shoulder.  
  
"Harry, I like you. I thought you knew, but when you didn't ask me to the Yule Ball, I figured you didn't feel the same way." Hermione breathed into Harry's shoulder. Not knowing how to react, Harry only hugged her tighter as he thought of something to say.  
  
"Hermione, I've liked you since I met you. I was, well, young and nervous back then. Ron was my only friend, and I didn't want to lose him because I liked someone he didn't."  
  
Hermione picked her head off his shoulder and looked at Harry. "Really?' she gasped.  
  
"You know I wouldn't lie to you."  
  
Hermione hugged him again, wiping her eyes from the tears of despair she had cried.  
  
"Do you want to go back to the common room, or back to the Ball?" Harry asked.  
  
"I'd go back to the Ball, but I don't have a date, remember?"  
  
Harry breathed deeply. He knew he had to do it, and it would be hard. "Hermione, would you be my date at the Yule Ball?"  
  
Hermione's eyes suddenly had a different shine to them. "I thought you'd never ask."   
  
If we could take the time To lay it on the line I could rest my head Just knowing that you were mine So if you want to love me, Then darlin don't refrain Or I'll just end up walking In the cold November rain   
  
They walked back into the Great Hall, hand in hand. Harry gathered the nerve to ask Hermione if she wanted to dance, and she did. Strolling out onto the wooden floor, Hermione took Harry's hand and led him to a fairly unpopulated part of the parquet. She took his hands and placed them on her hips as she took his shoulders in her own grasp.  
  
Harry had never danced with someone he wanted to dance with. It was a totally new feeling; a level of satisfaction that he never dreamed attainable. His head was swirling with thoughts of anxiety from dancing with a girl. He didn't know how he should dance, what he should do, and most importantly, if he should kiss her. The butterflies of panic skittered about in his stomach, and he was at a loss for words, but his feet did the talking.  
  
The couple started to sway back and forth to the rhythm of the music of the Weird Sisters. Harry's anxiety settled, and the music started to seem to fade into the background. Harry smiled, just from all that had happened to him in the last ten minutes, and Hermione noticed. She sensed that Harry wasn't just being polite in what he said out in the Grand Staircase. Both pulled one step closer to each other.  
  
Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder to see Ron and Parvati swaying to the music as well. Ron was glaring at Harry, giving him a look that said, "I can't believe you." The look was not what bothered Harry; it was what the look meant...  
  
Ron had confided in Harry that he liked Hermione during the summer. He could never admit it to Hermione, but all of that hatred for Krum was truly jealousy. Ron declared early that school year that he had gotten over Hermione, but Harry knew that Ron felt betrayed as Hermione took a step closer to Harry, still swaying to the beat. Harry knew that Ron was either going to have him out after the Ball, or he was going to give Harry the silent treatment. But he didn't care. Harry just looked away and focused back on Hermione.   
  
I know it's hard to keep an open heart When even friends seem out to harm you But if you could heal a broken heart Wouldn't time be out to charm you?   
  
Harry, standing a few inches taller than Hermione, turned his head downward to see her face, but she laid her head on Harry's shoulder as a response. By now, the song started to wind down, and a more perky song started. For a few, passionate moments, the couple stood in a firm embrace, not wanting to let the song end.  
  
Ron appeared out of nowhere and ripped the two apart and took Harry by the shoulder. Dragging him out of the Great Hall, Ron growled at him, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
Harry freed himself from his friend's grasp. He may have been shorter, but he was stronger from all the Quidditch.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"You know exactly what it means! You knew that I had feelings for her! And you take her? Who do you think you are?"  
  
Harry threw Ron against the wall and pinned him there. "She is not something to be taken, or given, or anything! You stay away from her!"  
  
Ron pushed himself out of Harry's way and turned to face him. They stared at each other for a tense moment, when Hermione herself burst onto the scene and looked from one angry face to the other, and back. Ron turned and stormed back into the Great Hall, and sat down next to Parvati. It appeared as if Ron would tell her all about the new "item", and Harry knew it would be old news by noon tomorrow.  
  
Harry looked back at Hermione and smiled. "Shall we continue?"  
  
Hermione laughed and answered, "We shall." She walked over to him and took his hand, leading him back into the Great Hall. At that moment, Harry realized that there was no fear in Hermione's voice. She fully trusted him, and he could tell. He never wanted this night to end.   
  
And when your fears subside you And shadows still remain I know that you can love me When there's no one left to blame So never mind the darkness We still can find a way 'Cause nothing lasts forever Even cold November rain.   
  
After the dance, still giggly from their newfound friendship, Harry led Hermione back up to the common room. Ron had apparently already gone to bed. Harry started up the stairs to the dorm. "G'night, Hermione." As he ascended up the stairs, he said, "Tomorrow will be interesting, if Ron has his way", in an undertone, meant to be heard only by himself.  
  
"Harry, wait!" Harry retreated back down the stairs to where Hermione was standing. "I just wanted to thank you."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For everything." Hermione planted a kiss on Harry's cheek as punctuation. Then she glided up the stairs, giddy, to her dorm, where she closed the door and went to bed.  
  
Harry stood there, dumbstruck, with his hand at his cheek where Hermione had first expressed her love for him. He knew that no matter what Ron did to him in the morning, he would be ready for it, knowing Hermione was at his side. 


End file.
